A Lesson In Hair Care
by Fallen Angel Of The Forgotten
Summary: Sani encounters a sticky situation. Komatsu teaches him a lesson about maintaining his long locks. Slight Sani/Komatsu. Fluff.


**Summary: **Sani encounters a sticky situation. Komatsu teaches him a lesson about maintaining his long locks. Slight Sani/Komatsu. Fluff.

A Lesson in Hair Care

It was a familiar routine of the old sort; yet again Komatsu and his choice of merry (or not so merry) Food Hunter had set out in search of an elusively rare creature, and yet again _something _had happened along the way. A snag, if you will, that caused Komatsu to have a slight headache even as he smiled in exasperation and reminded himself that he had _chosen _this crazy-beyond-all-reason calling, and picked this band of loons himself. Therefore, all rights to complain were long gone.

The snag this time came in the form of an enemy they had just shot down, a rather large Maple Honey Bee (Level 21) that had exploded upon death, shooting its entire expanse of honey, maple and otherwise, onto the head of one unfortunate drama queen.

Sani, true to form, had reacted none-too-pleased.

"MY HAIR! _T-that _v-vile, retched, monstrous beast has _**ruined my HAIR!**_"

Komatsu was never one for being a downer in bad situations (at least not after spending the last four years of his life traveling with these loons), but even he had to admit, Sani was actually pretty close to being right on this one. Maple Honey Bees carried a _lot _of different honey inside their bodies, and each one had a different property. Some were known for their sweetness, while others were known for being absolutely perfect adhesives. As Sani lifted a now-lifeless patch of hair and watched it slowly peel itself apart, Komatsu told himself that this was yet another test of his chef skills – fortunately, it was one that he could ace easily.

"Sani," he said, drawing the attention of the horrified man from where he stood, tears gathering in his eyes and face contorted into a picture of utter _hurt. _A look he only ever got on his face, Komatsu added silently, when something near and dear to him had been hurt. Like Rin. Or his hair.

"K-komatsu… please tell me you've got something… _anything…_"

The chef made placating gestures with his hands, soothing the fear of the other almost immediately. Komatsu was one of those people that could calm people when things got bad, Sani knew, because Komatsu was often the one he went to whenever he had anxiety attacks – which were a secret from everyone, even Rin. Sani prided himself on keeping them a secret, because he was too unsure about who to trust on such a delicate matter. Komatsu had stumbled across them by sheer accident, but had taken such information in stride and helped Sani recover a sense of peace that no one else – not even Ichiryuu – could give him. And for that, Sani was forever grateful.

"I know a recipe that will get the honey right out. It'll take a while, but if you're willing to be patient and trust me—" Komatsu started, but Sani was already nodding hastily, looking relieved by the words.

"Yes, yes! Anything, I'll do anything! Just get it out!" he cried.

Komatsu hefted his bag a little higher and nodded to himself. "Alright then. We need to find a place to camp tonight, somewhere near a river."

Sani moved as if his heels were on fire after that, and they had camp set up even before the sun had hit the slopes and turned the sky into one giant orange-red streak. Komatsu kept Sani busy by having him set up the fire for the night while he went around and collected the needed regiments for the cure, checking them off in his head as he picked them up. The very last item required a bit of stretching and climbing, since Sani's 'feelers' were currently out of the picture. He took a tumble from the tree he was in, but fortunately none of the ingredients were damaged.

On his return to camp, he ordered Sani to strip his shirt off and soak it full of water, and then sit next to the stream and wait. Sani scurried off to do that, and Komatsu grabbed the mortar and pestle before following the man out.

Sani's anxiety appeared to have gone to unholy levels, if the way he was fiddling with his hands was any indication. Komatsu had learned that when Sani was anxious or nervous about something, his hands always did the speaking for him, and right now they were telling him that Sani was scared of not only losing his hair, but his pride and dignity along with it. Komatsu smiled and laid a gentle hand on the man's shoulder, meeting his eyes as the other turned. "It'll be alright, just leave it to me, okay?"

Sani gulped and wordlessly nodded, shoulders a little less tense now.

Behind him, Komatsu laid out his ingredients and immediately got to work. Running a wire brush through the man's hair, he got out any loose honey that still remained. He did this several times, rinsing the honey out in the stream each time, and soon managing to eliminate any clumps that were still trying to harden. Setting the brush aside then, Komatsu laid out several large leaves and took up his smaller of the two knives, kneeling close to see what he was doing. A small hole, no bigger than a needle, was poked into the very middle – just enough to let the milk inside the leaves out. The milk would soften the hair and make it easier for the honey to slide out.

The leaves were then placed upside down onto Sani's head. "Don't move, okay? This is the important part."

Sani gulped but froze entirely soon afterwards, too fearful of losing so much to move a single muscle. Taking up the mortar and pestle as well as several large eggs from the wild Chickengator he had snuck past as well as a handful of greens, he put everything into the mortar and began to mix it all together, crushing the greens and the eggs and soon transforming the two into a goopy green mix. Taking the pestle out and laying it aside, he then stood and shielded Sani's eyes with one hand while he poured a generous amount of the stuff into Sani's hair, right over the leaves. It soon covered his entire head, making him look like he had a bush on his head. Then he had wrapped the wet shirt around that like a towel, holding it all in place.

"Now, stay just like that for an hour, and it'll be done," the chef ordered, stepping away in order to clean out his instruments before starting dinner. And for the next hour Sani stayed just like that, eyes gazing off in the distance while the mixture atop his head cooled and turned into a sort of algae, sucking the honey up out of the hair and rejuvenating the scalp.

At a quarter to ten, Komatsu came back with the brush and gently untangled the green stuff from his friend's hair, then wetting the brush and running it through the newly-untangled locks. Sani made small pleased noises with each stroke, eyes slipping shut before long. The chef completed the arrangement by tying Sani's hair back and slipping a large cherry-bomb clip into it to hold it in place and make it smell good.

Sani examined his hair in the water's reflection, lips trembling at the corners. He touched a strand hanging down next to his face, and silently wondered at how soft and silky it felt. Komatsu really had done a wondrous job, better than any hair-dresser ever could.

Pulling back, the food hunter gazed up at the smaller man with a look of pure adoration. "Thank you so much, Komatsu."

The chef smiled, cheeks turning pink. "It was nothing, Sani. That's what friends are for, right?"

Sani hugged the smaller man then, if only because if he didn't press his face into the other's chest, Komatsu might have seen him cry. Komatsu made a small contented noise, wordlessly stroking Sani's hair as he allowed himself to be hugged in the night. Times like this made all their oddball adventures worth it, he thought. All the trouble and danger that becoming a world-class chef invited – it was worth it if something like this happened at least once in a while. Even more so if it ended on a good note, like tonight.

Komatsu slept with Sani snuggled into his back that night, the silky strands of the man's hair wrapped around them and over him like a blanket, the smell of cherries flying on the winds and giving him sweet dreams. Sani doubtlessly had the same sweet dreams, because there was a smile on his face all night long.


End file.
